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The Changing Face of Barking's Shops

When we look at
Barking’s town today we see a centre with few amenities. Where have all the
quality businesses and those little specialist shops gone, which once gave
Barking its unique character? What has also happened to its leisure facilities?

Let us not
kid ourselves; Barking was never a great town--- one that could compete with
Romford or even Ilford. However, numerous people hark back to those heady days
of 20-25 years ago, and unless you lived here then you will not know what this
means.

In November 1988 I
carried out a Survey of Barking Town & its shops. This was in prelude of
the building of the Vicarage Field Shopping Centre and the Northern Relief
Road, which see the loss of a number of shops in both areas. I was lucky enough
to be able to record these, but by and large most had already closed their
doors for the final time, and were being demolished at the time of the study.

This was followed by
further surveys of the town in November 1993, December 1998, July-August 2004
and in August 2009. In this work though, I employ mainly the 1998 and 2009
Surveys, with a few supplementary details from 2010. From this research it is
easy to gauge the makeup and changes in the town in these eras.

When we look at the
formation of the town from the initial Survey we find that in 1998 a total of
305 businesses existed. The town’s top three categories were as follows:
Professional services (13%), Clothing trade (9.5%) and Specialist shops (8.5%).
By professional I include: accountants, dentists, doctors and surveyors etc;
clothing is self explanatory, but includes men, women, children and sportswear:
while among the specialists are: a cake maker, cards, a cycle shop, a garage,
health shops, pet stores and prams etc.

In contrast with the
survey I undertook last year (2009), plus Supplementary information added this
year, we find a total of 336 business or shops. These comprise of Restaurants
& Fast Food outlets (16%), Professional (10%), Clothing (8%) & Empty
properties (8%).

It will come as no
surprise to readers’ who venture through the centre that most of the towns
businesses are connected with food, being either quick food or low-priced
restaurants. The most significant alterations in the town are the fact that
this category has risen 100% in this time: while the number of specialist shops
have fallen by the same percentage margin. Overall the quality of shops here
has shown a massive decline. There is a significant downturn in professional
trades here too, which is probably due to the economic recession.

The clothing businesses
during the last 20 years or so have remained pretty static, with there being 26
in 2009 and 29 in 1988. However, barring the Vicarage Field, the overall store
quality has deteriorated into a number of cheap outlets today. Gone are the
Irving Anthony’s, Quacks and Plus One to be found along the main roads to be
replaced in the main by cheap shops, a tacky market and charity stores.
Although there are one or two bright spots, including: The Bon Marchè and
Peacocks.

Today there are 25 (7%)
empty shops, mainly in the London Road & North Street regions, where they
are awaiting demolition; these add to this feeling of despair here. This is in
contrast to under half this figure in 1998, with a total of 10 (3.5%). There is
a recession today; but the figure has been high for many years, which was
reflected in the 2004 Survey when 32 premises were unoccupied.

In the 1980s the Borough
still had large pockets of unemployment, which was high with a total of 7,774
without work at the end of 1984, rising to 8,264 two years later. This is
depicted locally with the amount of deserted businesses and shops. Even in 1992
there were 43 people chasing each job in the Borough.

Another massive change I
have included highlights the fact that public houses in the town (and in deed
the Borough) have closed at an alarming rate! These are based on current
supplementary figures from 2010. We find only last year there were 11 inns
here: while at present, in under a year this has been reduced to just 6. This
means the town is down to its final remaining public houses: the Barking Dog,
the Spotted Dog, Top Up Bar (once Lloyds Bank), Victoria and the White Horse:
while just within range is the Jolly Fisherman near Harts Lane in North Street.

Who would
have thought not so many years ago that all these drinking establishments would
have closed? Not me for one! It will be only a matter of time before more close
their doors, and we are probably left with just the two ‘Dogs’.

Leisure too has suffered
badly hit. Long gone is the Odeon Cinema, both the Working Men’s Clubs in
Ripple Road and North Street: while the Night Club in London Road vanished
quite recently, although is once again being refurbished.

Supermarkets &
multistores account for another 25 shops (7%). These big changes reflect
heavily on the cultural shift in Barking as some of these are halal.

It is quite alarming
that today we find nearly half the businesses in the town in just 5 categories:
Restaurants (16), Professional (9.5), Clothing (8), Empty (7.5) and
Supermarkets (7). In comparison the shops in 1988 were far more varied:
Professional (13), Clothing (9.5), Specialist (8.5), Restaurants (8) and
General Shops (6.5). There was a far better balance in the town during this
earlier phase, and not one dominated like today with too many food outlets and
empty premises.

Many of the stores here
now have extended onto the pavements, and their window displays appear tacky
and unkempt. This is not something you would have regularly observed in Barking
as little as 20-25 years ago! Numerous businesses here look badly kept and run
down.

In contrast,
take a look at Havering today-- in Romford the shops are well presented, as is
the market. Hornchurch also has a town centre to be proud of, being of similar
size to Barking. Looking back further, I find it incredible that our town once
boasted a Sainsbury’s in East Street in the 1960s. Who indeed would have
thought that today? Indeed these types of supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, Marks
& Spencers and Waitrose define a regions prosperity: or indeed on the other
hand like Lidl or Aldi which defines the opposite end of the scale.

We can ask
ourselves why have these changes taken effect? The answers lie in a number of
reasons. When I undertook the first survey it was to record the changes in
shops and businesses, but little did I know at this time it would also reflect
a change in population.

Many of
today’s people in Barking are African or Muslim, which is coupled with
residents from Eastern Europe. They have brought a different culture to that of
1988. They have displaced the original residents. This has further led to the
closure of many of the established trades here, as they no longer have the
customers to remain open.

The local
authority has also done little to alleviate this. They have had a number of
opportunities in recent years to build new shopping regions, but instead have
chosen to construct flats here, seeing them as a more profitable course to
follow. They know Barking will never be able to compete with the likes of
Romford or even Ilford.

Barking Market, 2010

Romford Market, 2010

Barking, Ripple Road, 2010

Hornchurch, High Street, 2010

I could write
a long list of shops that have gone, but not forgotten in our lives. I have
listed some of the more notable stores below to have vanished in the last 20
years or so.

Ripple
Road: on the odd side previously was Barking Supermarket, being once the
old Electric Theatre, which opened in 1910; it was this that contained a number
of stores the most notable of which was the original Simon’s Sales Store. The
Vicarage Field shopping centre replaced the supermarket and old post office in
1989-90.

Further along
was the Electrical Showroom (now Poundsave), Winches (furniture) whose
showrooms occupied Nos 25-31: while Stewart & Company (hardware) later
became Deep Pan Pizza in 1989. There was also Competitive Remedies; one of the
first Health Food shops in the area, having opened in 1931; while just along
from here was Griffiths (photographers). The off license, Peter Dominic, later
Threshers, lay to the left of the Launderette on the corner of St Erkenwald
Road today.

The even side
began with Burtons (menswear), Tesco’s later Leo’s supermarket, plus Clarkes
(bakers), which later became the Cornish Pasty Bakery, Dixon’s (electrical);
also Marks & Spencers, part of which became Kwik Save: while the other
section of the store became Iceland. Blakes Market
was destroyed by fire in 1971 and was replaced by The Arcade by 1973, also
along this highway was Rumbelows, and Granada (TV rental), which currently is
Game Station.

East Street (even side), from B&DP, 1990

East Street (even side), 1991

Broadway: on the odd side was Tesco’s, later Peacocks side
entrance: in addition to the Barge Aground and the Captain Cook public houses.
The Barge was a direct replacement in 1974 for the original alehouse, which
stood across the opposite side of the road. Today, although surviving, is the
‘Tarancuta Restaurant Romanesc’ [a Romanian restaurant], which opened c.2007.
Here live music takes place, and it is used for Romanian weddings and parties.
The Captain Cook on the other hand was constructed as a replacement for the old
George Inn, which once lay near by, and opened its doors in 1962. The last pint
was pulled here in November 2009 and it was hastily pulled down in January
2010, with the site being levelled, and turfed over, which is how it stands
today.

The Barge Aground was briefly known as The Ferret & Trouser Leg in this picture. It is now a Romanian restaurant, 1996

The Captain Cook, 1988

London
Road: lying formerlyon the odd side was Warrens Sewing Centre,
Porky’s (cooked meats), Stanley Maurice (hairdressers), Mike Vickers (cycles),
F & E Hopkins (jewellers), and Tolaini’s (café). On the even side was once
found the Slow Boat (Chinese), Pie & Mash, Animal Crackers (pets), also
Connolly’s (wine bar) which later became Legends, and currently being
refurbished.

London Road (odd side), 1987

London Road (odd side), 1993

North
Street: the storesbeing found on the even side once included the Bull PH (closed June 2010),
Low Price Records, Lacey’s Travel, Prontaprint, North Street Video and the Hong
Kong Restaurant.

North Street (odd side), 2010

Vicarage Field (interior), 1993

The original Tenth Planet shop in Vicarage Field, courtesy of Flikr, 1993

Vicarage Field (exterior), 1993

As we can see
the change in Barking’s centre has been immense. The shops that I have listed
have long since disappeared and can never be replaced.

The one highlight of the
town is the Vicarage Field Shopping Centre, opened 6th November
1990, but even this has been dumbed down on its original style, which was once
blessed with a food court, palm trees, a water fountain and a lift.

Within the centre were a
number of speciality shops, now gone: like 10th Planet, sci-fi
specialists. These sold Dr Who merchandise mainly, and was named after an episode of the series featuring the cybermen.

To the right of 10th Planet was James Smith, booksellers, H. Samuels the jewellers, and Sam
Goody’s, music store.

What an outsider
notice’s immediately in Barking is the high-level of accommodation in the
nucleus, which reminds me as being similar to what you find in a holiday
destination like Benidorm, Spain. With
the current level of building in the heart of Barking being high-rise
apartments and flats it is not possible for the region to ever regain even a
fraction of these lost stores.

The space, which could
have regenerated the town with new shops and businesses, has now gone. It has
become a region with thousands of people, all crammed into hastily built
multi-coloured flats.

From the
businesses that have graced the town, I have complied a shortlist [shown below] of 23 of the more memorable
stores here, all of which have
disappeared in the last 20 years or so. It has to be noted that many of these
were long established names, with 11 of these shops closing in the last 5 years
alone.

Business / Shop

Trade

Date Opened

Date Closed

A.J. Harvey

Greengrocer & Fruiterer

1960s

2010

Alex Wheele

Newsagents

1908

c.1987

Barking Pet Stores

Pets

1956

c.2005

Competitive Remedies

Health Foods

1931

c.1990

Dowling's

Curtains

Before 1959

2009

F & E Hopkins

Jewellers

1941

1991

Farmers Meats

Butchers

1932

2007

G.A. Fletchers

Butchers

c.1935

2004

Grays

Chemist

1911

c.1987

Hewett’s

Newsagents & Confectioners

Before 1925

c.1993

Hong Kong Restaurant

Chinese Cuisine

1965

2010

Hyper-Fi

Electrical Store

1975

2010

J.T. Worrickers

Toys & Prams

1898

1993

Marks & Spencer’s

Supermarket

1914

1990

Mike Vickers

Cycles

1960s

c.2008

Pesci Bros

Fish & Chips

1934

1997

Pie & Mash

Pie & Mash

1979

2009

Rodney’s

Books & Games

Early 1960s

2006

Simons Sales Store *

Multistore

1953

c.2007

Stanley Maurice

Hairdressers

1968

c.1993

Stewart & Co

DIY & Hardware

1929

1988

Winches

Furniture

1899

c.1996

Woolworth’s

Multistore

1927

12-2008

Currently we
have two rays of light; these are the businesses of Jack Bunney’s dress hire
store, which opened in 1958 and is still going strong currently: and that of
(Montague) Burtons, now trading from the Vicarage Field.

I say forlornly on a
closing note, that the shopping centre of Barking is today a lost cause. This
is hard for me to say in a town, where I have spent most of my life in. Even
the Vicarage Field is under threat with proposals to build flats here. Anyway,
I conclude by saying I hope this article brings back a number of memories to
the older residents, and to those who have long departed the town.